2. Putting blame on the enemy.
War justification for a society includes paranoia and involves, "Complex mental, emotional,
and social mechanisms by which a person or a people claim righteousness and purity, and
attribute hostility and evil to the enemy" (Keen, 1986, p. 19). Shadow imagery has been used
historically and well as currently to imply the dark, ominous threat (recalling the Time magazine
darkened image of O.J. Simpson). Whereas, "Americans show a deep commitment to one
another and an abiding love for country," the implication is that "they" do not. In the September
20, 2001 address, Bush asked the question, "Who is the enemy?" He compared an unknown
image to a known stereotype by stating, "Al Qaeda is to terror what the Mafia is to crime." He
pointed out that the "terrorists’ directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews."
Women play a relatively minor role in the iconography of most wars, because "war is largely
a man’s game" and because "it is necessary for us to erase from the face of the enemy any
characteristic that might trigger our identification or compassion" (Keen, 1986, 58). While
sexualization of women has been absent from the discourse on the Taliban because of Islamic
religious beliefs, women are not entirely absent from the scene. In fact, much of the collective
anger and sense of outrage stimulated on the part of Americans has to do with the treatment of
Afghani women under the Taliban. On October 7, 2001, Bush addresses this by stating that
America defends, "Not only our previous freedoms, but also the freedom of people everywhere
to live and raise their children free from fear."
On January 29, 2002 Bush stated that, "America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable
demands of human dignity: the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women,
private property, free speech, equal justice and religious tolerance. Our enemies send other